Netflix vs. Blockbuster.com  

I only rent HD-DVD's, but agree that Netflix is better for HD movies. I've been using both for about 1/2 year and the only reason I keep my BB account is because I occasionally return HD movies to get SD movies for my daughter. She likes to pick out movies herself as it makes her feel good to make her own decisions (I still have final say of course). I still put new releases at the top of my que and usually get those new HD releases - I just got "Born on the 4th of July" and "Breach" yesterday for example.

I haven't tried Blockbuster, but I have been a happy member of Netflix since 1999. (They have a lot of my money )

I have to say though that I have been pleasantly pleased with the quick turnaround on HD movies. They have always been good on DVD, but I expected longer waits on HD DVD, and I haven't had any problems at all. I am in Seattle, and I get my HD DVD 2 days after I ship them an old one.

We live in Sacramento and have both services. Netflix does a better job of actually shipping you the next movie in your queue. Blockbuster does a horrible job of adhering to the queue but wins me over with same-day check-in of returns in conjunction with a free new-release rental. This works well for me so that I can still watch SD new releases that have been released on BD (I don't see myself shelling out more money for another player).

For those of you that can actually rent HD DVDs at your local Blockbuster:

Does the free rental (with exchange of online rental) include the store's HD selection? My store doesn't have HD DVDs just yet but I'm glad to see that I'm not restricted to older releases...just wondering if you guys are enjoying constant HD turnaround.

I was member of netflix for a couple of years but eversince blockbuster has new promo about able to return movie in exchange for new one I have switched to them so far no problemo I always get my hd dvd available and their shipping is fast also.

I was a Netflix subscriber for about a year and was entirely happy with their service. However, I switched to Blockbuster's online service when I learned I could save $1 a month and still get 3 movies at a time PLUS a free in store rental every week. This saved me at least $12 a month.

Shortly thereafter, Blockbuster instituted their "no late fee" policy. My wife and I could no longer rent movies we wanted since there was no punishment for people not bringing 2 day rentals, or any other rentals, back on time. We seriously considered switching back to Netflix and giving Blockbuster the Universal Sign of Peace and Goodwill ,.|.. We kept debating it for a month with my wife the least willing to stick it out and see what was coming next. You see I had a sneeky suspicion that Blockbuster would detect the scent of mass exodus to Netflix given the policy change. For my patience, the movie gods rewarded me with TOTAL ACCESS! I normally have 6 movies in my home every weekend. I am satisfied with the HD DVD selections and availability and have had no playback problems with the online rentals. Could their selection and availability be better? Sure, but it's good enough to keep me satisfied. Blockbuster really proved they want my money by figuring out how to keep getting it.

I'll take whichever offers a free month/weeks promotion.

Cheers,
TP.

I have Blockbuster Total Access, for which I got because of the in store rental. My better half has not seen alot of movies, I am trying to convert her to a movie person. I usually just get older movies, not new releases online, then I go in on Tuesday to rent the new releases. I got my A2 about 3 weeks ago and at that time I cleaned out my queue and just added HD DVD's. As I want to see as much content as possible on HD, I don't care if they are new releases or not. I live in Overland Park KS, a suburb of KC, and I have 3 stores within 5 miles of my apartment. One of these store carries a 4 ft section each of both BluRay and HD DVD. I talked to one of the other stores manager and he said that store was a test store for HD in the area. So I will be renting all the HD DVD discs that they have in stock so more get into the area hopefully.

I have not had problems what so ever with the online portion of Blockbuster, but again most of my movies are not new releases. Once I return to the movie to the store it is either the next day or the day after that I get the movies in the mail again.

I forgot to answer this with my original post. I can trade in my online rental for HD movies in the store. The lady at the counter that the exchange is for any movie they rent in the store, including HD DVD and BR.

Netflix all the way. get my hd movies 2 days after i mail back the old one. always in right order of my queue. no defective hd dvd movies have been received. one movie got lost in mail and netflix immediately credited my account with a return so i did not suffer for usps failings. couldn't be happier. besides, i hate waiting in line to rent videos at blockbuster.

I used Netflix for years, but the throttling is out of control. Blockbuster doesn't do this, and I can rent twice as many movies for no extra charge. It's a no-brainer for me.

I havent tried blockbuster online yet, but i just canceled my netflix account because of their throttling my account.

Netflix has lost a lot of customers to BlockBuster ever since they started the "TotalAccess". I'd switch too ... but their Bollywood collection is pathetic ...

NetFlix CEO said ....

$17.99 a Month for three rentals, store exchanges, and one game rental a month makes me a BB fan.

I just wish their HD Service was a bit better though. I've been waiting forever for them to send me Crank(BD) since I don't think I could live with myself if I spent $25 on a pretty picture. I was about to dump them for NetFlix when I noticed that their service has gotten better with newer tittles. 40 YO Virgin, Trading Places, and a few others are showing available and ship to me quickly in spite of the fact that it usually takes BB Online forever to get stuff in. I've seen this improvement ever since I got Smokin Aces the day after it came out.

Speed of delivery
I usually receive the next movie from Netflix three days after watching a movie. Watch a movie on Monday night. Mail the movie on Tuesday. Receive the next movie on Thursday. Blockbuster would always be Friday or Saturday, for me. So even though they gave credit and shipped right away, It was still slower than Netflix with 100% of the time in the mail.

Quantity of movies per month
I also found if I limit myself to 11-12 movies a month with Netflix (3 at a time plan), I am not throttled. With Blockbuster (3 at a time plan) I was never able to get more than 12 movies in any month, no matter how quickly I turned them around. And that 12 movie month was only achieved by watching each movie the same day I received it, and delivering to the local blockbuster the next morning on the way to work. So my conclusion is that neither has an advantage in quantity of movies delivering to me. You may find in your location that the numbers are different.

Availability of movies
I have found that if I put upcoming releases on the save list at Netflix, and move to the top of my que as soon as they are marked as "available on xxxx", I will receive them within a week of them releasing. There were some movies at Blockbuster that I never did receive, no matter how long I waited. It was completely random as far as I could tell in whether I could get a new release.

Order of Que
Netflix ships the next movie in the que very consistently for me. Unless a movie is clearly marked as "wait", it is always next. Much of the time the movies on wait are still shipped next. With blockbuster, I seemed to receive random movies quite often. The que order could not be depended on.

Price
The two services for three-at-a-time are about the same money. Blockbuster is cheaper, but only by a buck. If it was $12 compared to $18, we would have something to consider. But I figure I would just up the quantity, and still spend around $20 a month.

Website
I greatly prefer the Netflix website. The Blockbuster site seems so clunky and obscure in comparison. This is a user preference though, so some may find the opposite.

Extra Features
Netflix has none. Blockbuster has the ability to rent an in-store movie immediately by turning in an online movie. You also get one coupon a month for renting something, including video games. The in-store rental is mitigated somewhat by a complete lack of in-store highdef movies at my location. And the regular DVD selection is always highly picked over. I nearly always had to go to my third or fourth choice to find a movie on the shelf.


Overall
For me, Netflix has faster turnaround, and greater quantity of highdef movies per month. I simply do not want to watch a movie as soon as it arrives in the mail. I would rather choose when to watch. With blockbuster, unless I turned them around on the same day I got them I ended up with fewer overall movies due to slow shipping. I also like the Netflix website much better, and have much more control in reality over the order movies arrive to my door.

Blockbuster does have the in-store rentals and the video game rental. Those are a powerful draws to combat the other clear Netflix advantages. The posts who point this out are quite correct. Blockbuster's package of services is the better product. It is in the implementation that I feel Blockbuster has failed.

Blockbuster is a criminal enterprise that has made billions of the backs of consumers via draconian late charges for years. They dont desrve a nickel of anyones money. Just recently they decided that maybe late fees were a joke and a ripoff.... nice of them to "come around." I remember them actually hassling a friend of mine calling them during dinner hours to try to collect a $4.00 late fee. Are they focking crazy? What are they gona send the Blockbuster "muscle" to your home and strip Grandma of her last $4 bucks?

They also understaff so if you do venture into the store you stand in line what seems to be the equivalent amount of time as you would for Space Mountain at Disneyland during 4th of July weekend.

The sooner Blockbuster goes out of Busniess, the better.......

I am happy with Blockbuster. They have all the HD movies I want to see and the only real wait I have has been with TV Series on DVD. Usually I send a movie back on Monday, they get it Tuesday, ship me back a movie on Tuesday and I get it Wednesday. Not bad, but it helps that 2 distribution centers are pretty close by.

I've used both but canceled Netflix last year due to really slow shipping. I've used BB ever since. BB is great for shipping and they usually get my movies the next day after sending them out and they usually ship the next that day. So sometimes it's 2-3 days. I haven't had an issue with HD movies being in stock but I do see Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima listed as Coming Soon for weeks now.

The major issue I have with BB lately is TV shows. I was watching Voyager and now Atlantis and is really hard to get availability from TV DVDs. They also don't wait long enough for the next disc in a series to become available. I have contemplated switching back to Netflix but not sure how the shipping has been in my area since I canceled.

BB has Breach as available, it's been #1 in my queue all week, and has been skipped over 2 times so far.

I had Norbit as #1 (before Breach came out), and moved it to #2 this week. After being skipped over all week last week it was shipped out to me yesterday.

Letters From Iwo Jima, and Flags Of Our Fathers both on HD been "coming soon" since their release date on 5/22 [BB online]. If this keep continue, I'll will switch to netflix.

Here are the items in my queue that have been released, but still say coming soon:

Flags of our Fathers
Letters From Iwo Jima
Music & Lyrics
Skeleton Key
Black Christmas
Freedom Writers
Harsh Times

Yesterday I found a local Blockbuster that has HD DVD and Blu-Ray movies and took my online rental there. I got there 5 mins before closing and got a blu-ray movie for free - as they were out of HD DVDs that I was interested in. Status of my online return shows as "received at the store" as of 5 mins ago. I think when more blockbusters will have hd material for rent - it might really hurt netflix since they cant offer in-store returns and free rentals....

Edit: to the posters above - my online queue has the same "Coming Soon" status for the same titles, however, they have those movies available on hd dvd at my local blockbuster, so I'm just gonna get them for free with my free in-store rentals. I would highly recommend that you check at your local blockbuster which stores in your area offer hd dvd and/or blu-ray rentals. last night i asked and was told - much to my surprise - there was one just a couple of miles away. I went there and they had a pretty good selection...

Definately. I've been contemplating getting rid of BB in favor of netflix, but I just like the flexibility of being able to grab an SD version of a new release BluRay only movie and can't bring myself to cancel.

I do wish Blockbuster would list on their website which stores rented HD/BR though. None of the 3 local stores around me do

Other than the in-store return benefit, how can BB beat the HD-DVD service I just got from Netflix: 2 new releases received on Tuesday ("Born on the 4th of July" and "Breach"), watched 'born' Tuesday night, mailed on Wednesday, and just got notice that "Liar Liar" was shipped today!!! That means 3 new releases in just a few days. Not only don't I get that kind of turnaround with BB, I would never be able to get 3 new releases in the same week.

I got Breach and Messengers from BBO - returned Breach at the store yesterday and got a free Kingdom of Heaven on Blu-Ray. And BBO shipped me a new movie today in exchange for the Breach that I returned at BB last night. That would make it 4 movies, although not 4 new releases. But renting Kingdom of Heaven was by choice - I could've picked any new release I wanted.
I have to say though - the only reason I went with BBO was because I used to have Netflix 4-5 years ago, and their service sucked so bad back then - I felt a little hesitant going back to them. Oh, and since I'm not a new customer - Netflix didnt give me a free trial - which I did get one month free at BBO. So that's two reasons, not one

This is how my top10 currently looks:

I have Blockbuster solely for the benefit of exchanging movies in store (+ cheaper than my movie pass was). I tried to use them for new HD releases, but I got frustrated with their inability to ship them timely (or even get them in stock).
I also keep an account with Netflix, which I use only for new HD releases (with nothing else in my Q). I have actually been pretty pleased with Netflix in this regard. Sometimes just to test them both, I put a new upcoming HD release at the top of each Q. 9/10 times Netflix ships it first!

Both services have skipped over "available" titles for ones further down the list. Blockbuster does it all the time, so I try not to keep too many movies in my Q. I questioned them about it and they said the system will skip "available" movies if they are not at your local distribution center (and deliverable within 1-2 days). Personally I would like the option to be able to force the system to ship in order (even if I have to wait a few days).

Another thing about Blockbuster is that they say as soon as a store scans your return envelope, your next movie will ship. That has not always been exactly true. Sometimes it takes a few days to clear the Q. Sometimes I have had to manually report it as returned to force the next movies to ship. They blame that on communication errors with the store...

So both services have their advantages (and disdvantages). If I was not concerned about exchanging in store, I would probably only use Netflix.

This is something that Netflix is supposed to be doing to high-volume renters (I say "supposed to be" because I don't personally have any experience with it). Basically, they slow way down on the shipping, if I understand the problem correctly. If you rent a few movies a week, you'll get 'em popped right off the top of your queue ASAP. If you rent more than that, though, you might find that your next movie is no longer shipping out right away. They're basically "throttling" back on your shipments.

Like I said, I don't have any experience with this personally, so if I've misspoken, anybody, please don't hesitate to correct me.

I joined BBO also for the free month. Then I forgot to unsubscribe . Once I got hooked on the in-store return, I couldn't stop. My wife and daughter both like that feature and they don't care about HD . Now I'm stuck with both Netflix and BBO.

Unfortunately, our local BB doesn't carry and HD movies.